GE Completes Major Inspection On SGT-800 To Modernize Power Plant

GE said its major inspection of the Siemens’s 60 MW SGT-800 gas turbine installed at the Ufa TPP-2 combined-cycle power plant was completed on time and successfully.

The 519-MW plant, which is owned by Bashkir Generation Co. LLC (BGC LLC) and one of the largest of the Republic of Bashkortostan, provides heat to more than half of the residents and industrial facilities in Ufa, the capital city of the Republic, with a population exceeding 1 million. GE said the project was completed in December 2019 and reduced operational costs, increased the availability of the plant by extending the maintenance intervals of the power generation equipment and helped BGC LLC better cope with Russia’s winter season, which typically lasts from October until May.

“Ensuring timely and high-quality maintenance of generating equipment to allow its reliable operation is our company’s priority,” said Dmitry Novikov, chief engineer of BGC LLC. “We are happy to cooperate with the highly professional and reliable GE team in Russia supporting us in achieving this goal.”

Through GE Gas Power’s Cross-Fleet Solutions, which inject GE technology into other equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) units and effectively adopts them into the GE services installed base—the overhaul interval of the SGT-800 gas turbine in Ufa was extended by 25%, which is equivalent to approximately seven months of operations, GE said. Additionally, after the next outage, the maintenance interval is planned to increase even further. The repair of several key components of the power unit, including components of the combustion chamber, was carried out by the GE Energy Technology Center in Kaluga (150 kilometers south of Moscow).

“The successful completion of such a comprehensive inspection project at the TPP-2 plant in Ufa was delivered through the collaboration of GE’s Cross-Fleet Solutions team, the repairs team in Birr, Switzerland, and FieldCore, the field services execution arm of GE,” said Michael Rechsteiner, Vice President for Europe, GE Gas Power. “GE’s localized resources made it possible to organize this task in the most time-efficient way and ensure high-quality service.”

The major inspection included the modernization of the main elements of the turbine unit, as well as first startup, operational commissioning and tuning, test validations and safety measures.

GE has been providing repair and modernization services for other OEM gas turbines in Russia since 2018. GE’s Cross-Fleet Solutions offering provides an increase of maintenance intervals for Siemens’ SGT-800 units of up to 40 000 hours/900 starts, enhancements to plant output by up to 6% and efficiency by up to 1.5% (depending on the SGT-800 turbine rating). Most of the SGT-800 maintenance is carried out in the GE Energy Technology Center in Kaluga, where GE also has a localized SGT-800 spare parts warehouse to ensure the availability of its key components and provides the possibility of replacing them promptly – up to within 24 hours.

Established in July 2006, BGC LLC is a major regional electric power generator in Russia, and a member of Inter RAO Group. BGC LLC manages power generation assets in the Republic of Bashkortostan and coordinates Bashkir Heat Distribution System LLC (BashRTS LLC) and service subsidiary. Its core business is generation of electric power and heat. BGC LLC operates over 20 large and small power plants across Bashkortostan and provides energy resources to local communities in Bashkortostan and neighbor regions.